Commercially printed material has been important to individuals for both personal use and business use. On a personal level, the use of commercially generated greeting cards is one prime example of a quality product at a reasonable price, while small businesses employ commercial printers to attain quality promotional and advertising material tailor-made to their requirements. Unfortunately, the cost of these commercially generated products has increased substantially in recent years, forcing customers to seek alternate sources for this material.
With the continuously expanding field of home computers and higher quality printers, various systems have been developed which enables individuals to create their own print material using conventional paper or other flat printing stock. Depending upon the quality of the computer system and printer available to an individual, the individually created print material is able to approach the general quality of the material commercially available. However, although individuals have been able to produce printed material having a quality comparable to commercial products, individuals have been limited to being only able to produce flat, two-dimensional material.
Although substantial advances have been made to enable individuals and small businesses to attain high quality print material using their own personal computers and printers, no system has been developed which allows individuals or small businesses to expand beyond flat, two-dimensional printed material. In spite of the desirability of attaining the substantially increased visual impact provided by three-dimensional, pop-up, or mechanically activated printed material, no system presently exists which enables the independent, self-creation of such pop-up, mechanical, or three-dimensional displays, cards, or promotional materials.
One principal reason for this prior art failing is due to the stringent requirements for die cutting every element employed in pop-up, three-dimensional, or mechanically activated works. As a result, individuals have been incapable of producing pop-up, three-dimensional, or mechanically activated material which is equivalent to the commercially available images or products. Although substantial use of cut-outs or pre-punched components have been employed in various pre-printed products, these products are incapable of providing the visual representation obtained by commercially produced three-dimensional artwork, three-dimensional pop-ups, or mechanically-activated media.
In addition to the requirement for the pop-up, three-dimensional, or mechanically activated elements to be die-cut, in order to attain a product consistent with commercial quality, precise positioning, complicated folding techniques, and secure affixation in gluing are also often required. In view of these factors, individually created, mechanically activated material and three-dimensional material for pop-up stationery, cards, advertisements, business information, books, and the like have not been capable of being independently generated by individuals or small businesses.
Therefore, it is a principal object of the present invention to provide a fully integrated printing system and assembly method which enables individuals and businesses to achieve self-created print material which incorporates pop-up, three-dimensional, or mechanically activated indicia associated therewith.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an integrated printing system and assembly method having the characteristics and features described above which can be easily achieved by employing any personal computer and quality printer.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an integrated printing system and assembly method having the characteristics and features described above which is capable of enabling the user to print any desired message on components which are subsequently employed to form pop-up, three-dimensional, or mechanically activated elements in the final print material.
Other and more specific objects will in part be obvious and will in part appear hereiniafter.